


Xenoship Week 2020: Revengeance

by tbat



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, a whole lotta angst all round from just about everybody, but also some fluff don't worry, pretty sure someone cries in almost all of these which was not intentional i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:41:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24644977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tbat/pseuds/tbat
Summary: My contributions for Xenoship Week this year. Pyrex and Panzeke only because I am nothing if not fixated.Day 1: Promise/PanzekeDay 2: Reunion/PyrexDay 4: Family/PyrexDay 5: Accident/PanzekeDay 7: Denial/Pyrex
Relationships: Homura | Pyra/Rex, Zeke von Genbu/Saika | Pandoria
Comments: 15
Kudos: 38





	1. Day One- Promise (Panzeke)

**Author's Note:**

> hello and welcome to xenoship week 2020, for today's meal we have an au where pandoria is somewhat troubled by the events of her and her himbo boyfriend's near death experience wow couldn't be canon HUH TAKAHASHI YOU FRAUD
> 
> also i'm only doing five of the prompts this year. which five, you ask,,,,? ,,,,,well,,,,,you will just have to wait and see,,,,,,,,,,

"Hey. Promise me something."

The words came out shaky and quiet, as though Pandoria wasn't sure she even wanted Zeke to hear them. They were the first thing either of them had said since returning to their room, her voice cutting through the silence that had weighed down upon them like a thick, suffocating fog. She sat at the edge of her bed, small and hunched over. Her eyes were dull, filled with an exhaustion that she knew no sleep could cure.

Zeke raised his head from his pillow, looking at her groggily as if he had been shaken out of a dream. He hadn't been asleep, that much she was sure of. Once he'd laid down on his bed, he'd spent much of the past hour staring down at the fresh scar across his chest, and the jagged chunk of her Core Crystal that was now embedded within it, completely mesmerized by it.

It was only now, at the sound of her voice, that he turned his attention away from the crystal. Slowly, he sat up and swivelled round to face her, the exertion causing a pained wince to momentarily flicker across his face. He nodded, the movement slow and stiff, urging her to continue.

Pandoria heaved a deep, shaky breath. She balled her hands into tight fists, her nails digging painfully into her palms.

"Promise me..." She paused. Her eyes dropped towards the floor, and to her now-trembling hands, unable to even look at him.

There was so much she wanted to say. So much fear and anxiety that had held her in a vicious stranglehold ever since she had woken up in Indol that she couldn't bear to leave unsaid for even a second longer. It was all she could do to to stop it from all spilling out at once. Swallowing the painful lump in her throat, she forced herself to look at him.

"Promise me that you'll be careful from now on, okay? Back then, I...I really thought that I was gonna lose you. That I was gonna lose...myself."

Tears stung at the edges of her eyes, tingeing them red. With a shaky breath she managed, just barely, to hold them back.

It felt awful to admit to herself, but that was what had scared her the most, even more than the thought of losing Zeke. She couldn't bear the thought of her memories simply vanishing, the person she had come to love most wiped from her mind as if he were nothing, without even being allowed to mourn him, to know that she had lost him in the first place.

"I...I don't want to forget everything. Forget who I am, forget all that we've been through. I don't want to forget _you,_ Zeke. Not ever. Whatever happens, I just...I want you to be safe, y'know?"

Zeke remained wordless, his head bowed slightly. His once-blank, expressionless face was now set in a grimace that only seemed to darken the longer he listened.

For an instant, she hesitated. Her eyes drifted away from him, unable to look at the obvious pain in his expression. She knew he would be blaming himself, cursing his own weakness for what had happened. Like he always did. But by now the words were coming out of her mouth before she could even think, everything she had tried to bury deep inside her finally surfacing.

"And...And promise me that you'll stay with me from now on. That we'll stick together, no matter what, okay? I...I don't ever wanna be apart from you. I wanna stay by your side, always. I wanna do everything together. And I know. I know that's a lot to ask, but..."

She looked back at him, her eyes overflowing with tears she could no longer suppress.

"Please," she said, quiet and desperation. "Promise me."

Zeke sat motionless, his face locked in a faraway, contemplative daze. The silence returned, as oppressive and crushing as ever. Whatever relief Pandoria might have felt at finally allowing herself to share the burdens that had weighed so heavily upon her was quickly replaced by nervous anticipation.

"Pandy..." he said at last, his voice soft and low. He raised his head, looking directly at her for the first time since she had started speaking.

Slowly, he reached behind his head. With a short tug, the straps of his eyepatch were undone, and it fell away. He squinted as his left eye adjusted to the light streaming into it for the first time in days. Pushing himself off of the bed, he approached Pandoria with heavy, plodding steps and knelt down in front of her, bringing his eyes level with hers.

It was strange, really. Normally, on the rare occasion Zeke removed his eyepatch, it would be accompanied by all his usual boasts, his dramatic flourishes and ominous proclamations about his "Eye of Shining Justice" finally being unleashed.

But there was none of that. Not this time. All the bombast and bravado he surrounded himself with like a suit of armour had crumbled and fallen away. What she saw in front of her wasn't the Bringer of Chaos, wielder of the Shining Eye of Justice- they were the tired, regret-filled eyes of a man who she had very nearly lost, so much more mortal and vulnerable than either of them had ever wanted to believe.

"I'm sorry. For everything," he said. His lips curled in frustration. "I was a damn fool, nearly getting us... _you_ killed like that. If anything had happened to you back there, well...I'd never forgive myself. I hardly deserve to be your Driver. You ought to have someone who can look after you, keep you safe. Not an idiot like me. But if you'll still have me, then..."

He reached out, his hands clasping gently around hers.

"I promise. Whatever happens, I'll stay by your side. Always."

For a moment, Pandoria could only stare at him, frozen with shock. One by one, though, his words began to sink in.

He was alive. He was still here, and they would still be together. That was all she needed.

Relief and joy surged through her in equal measure, faster than any lightning she could conjure. Her face lit up in a wide smile, framed by the tears streaking down her cheeks.

She leapt forward, flinging her arms around him. She clung to him, tighter than she'd ever held anyone or anything in her life, as though she were afraid that he, and this moment along with him, would fade into nothingness if she didn't.

She buried her face against his chest, the harsh glow of her own crystal stinging her eyes as she clenched them shut. His heartbeat rung out like thunder against her ear with slow, weighty crashes, as if it were still learning how to beat again. Somewhere, at the corner of her senses, she could feel the ether of their two fragments entangling, the ether in his body flowing back into her with each beat of his heart.

It was a surreal sensation, to have a piece of herself irreversibly embedded within someone else. It was almost like having a disembodied limb that she could no longer move, but could still _feel_ \- still intrinsically a part of her, and yet not quite. She had thought it would upset her more than it had. But feeling it now, feeling the way the very essence of their beings had become so deeply entwined, she had to admit...it was nice, in a way. It was as if they truly were inseparable now.

"Zeke..." she said in a muffled whisper. "Thank you."

His arms shifted, one wrapping around her while the other moved upwards, lightly combing through her hair. She relaxed her grip, allowing herself to sink further into his arms. For all that his words had meant to her, in a way this was all she had truly needed- a simple, solid reminder that he was here, _still_ here, and that nothing would ever break the bond between them. They'd made a promise, after all.


	2. Day 2- Reunion (Pyrex)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woof this one is admittedly a little rough but hey, the rest of them'll be better
> 
> my brain is a mind palace composed mostly of different What Happens Immediately After The Ending scenarios so here's one of the like twenty different variations

Pyra was alive.

Rex's arms wrapped around her with a tight, quiet desperation, clutching her in an embrace that was forced to convey all the feelings that his words could never hope to- all the overwhelming joy and relief and pure, all-encompassing love that he could find no other way to express.

Even now, holding her so close, he could scarcely believe what was happening. How could he? He thought for sure both her and Mythra were  _gone,_ that when Pyra had walked away from him on the other side of that crumbling bridge, distant and alone and terrifyingly frail, that he would never see her again. 

But she was alive. They both were. They had appeared right before his eyes, emerging in a flash of brilliant emerald light from the Core Crystal he had clutched hold of so tightly, and they had both simply stood in front of him, smiling serenely as if they had never even left. Poppi had rushed towards them with barely a moment's hesitation, leaping into their arms with unrestrained glee, but all he could do was stand there dumbfounded, too paralyzed by shock to even move, until Nia had shoved him forwards, breaking him out of his stupor.

And then Pyra had turned to him, her eyes shimmering with the pure, uncompromising kindness he had fallen so easily in love with, and at last, she had spoken.

" _I love you, Rex."_

Those words had made him happy, of course, but in a distant, almost logical sort of way. They were words he had wanted to hear, from a person he had wanted to see again. It was only natural they would make him happy. A smile had crept its way across his face, far calmer than he would have expected, and he had stepped towards her, propelled forward by a desire to be near her, to reach out and touch her and prove that she really was  _here,_ with him, that quickly consumed all his thoughts.

But it was only now that she was so close to him, leaning into his arms and pulling him closer still with her own, that the enormity of what she had said finally struck him, like a blow that was only really felt until after the adrenaline and the shock had worn off.

Pyra loved him. She was  _alive,_ and she  _loved him_ , just like he loved her. There was nothing he had ever wanted to hear more in his life.

He felt a sudden dampness on his shoulder that began trickling down the length of his arm in thin streaks. Pyra shifted in his arms, her breaths coming out in short, sharp gasps that caused her to tremble as she wept. Her hands clenched tightly around him, like she was refusing to ever let him go. The tears he had barely been holding back quickly welled up in Rex's eyes too, spilling forth before he had a chance to stop them.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed this way, holding on to each other as though they were all that was solid and real in the world. In some distant corner of his mind, he knew he would have to let go eventually, but he wanted this moment to last as long as it could, to hold onto her in a way he never thought he'd get to again.

But in time, Pyra pulled herself away from him with slow reluctance, just far enough to meet his gaze. Despite the tears flowing freely from her eyes, she looked happier than he had ever seen her before, a bright, overjoyed smile on her face. Her lips parted, whispering to him and only him.

"I'm home."

"Yeah..." he said.

His face lit up in a wide grin, filled with nothing but affection.

"Welcome back, Pyra."


	3. Day 4- Family (Pyrex)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> clings to my "addam was Going Through It too much after torna to really connect with pyra all that much" headcanon purely bc it enables my angsty bullshit
> 
> the last two prompts are less angsty and dramatic than the first three i swear sdfkngjn gotta end this on a higher note than Pyra Sad :(

The children of Fonsett Village had barely left Rex alone since the moment he and the rest of the party had arrived. Any chance they got, they would encircle him with the precision of Ardainian troops executing an ambush, and bombard him with a constant salvo of questions. No subject was off limits, from "can you teach me how to salvage?" to "so does being a Driver give you super powers?"

Unfortunately, their most common question, Pyra noted with considerable embarassment, was "Hey, so is that Blade your girlfriend?" Rex did not tend to have a very coherent answer for that one beyond blurting out a slightly too defensive-sounding "no!" that none of the children seemed to find particularly convincing, but she could hardly hold that against him.

Their more...difficult questions aside, though, they really seemed to look up to Rex. They hung on his every word as he recounted all he and Pyra had been through, and they would pop up regularly throughout the day to ask his help with something, or for him to play with them for a while.

He had only returned from their latest request a few minutes ago, sitting next to Pyra on a small ledge overlooking the village square, and the trio of children running back and forth across it. Pyra had been watching them quietly for a while now, lost in her own thoughts.

Eventually, though, she spoke, her voice quiet and faraway, as though she were talking to herself more than anyone else.

"It must be nice."

"Huh?" Rex looked towards her, puzzled.

"Having such a large family, I mean. Somewhere you can always come home to. You've been away so long, but it's like you never even left." Her head tilted downwards as she frowned wistfully. "I've...never really had anything like that."

There had been Addam, she supposed. But she'd never connected with him in the same way Mythra had. Her time with him had been all-too brief and all-too distant. Few words were ever exchanged, and when they were, they were stilted and awkward, like she was a stranger to him- which she was, really.

She had always felt kept at arm's length, even more so than her sister ever had been. Mythra at least had her memories of the happier times, when she had slowly become a part of Addam's family, before...everything went wrong. Pyra could look at those memories, see what Mythra had seen, but she had never gotten to experience that same feeling of belonging for herself.

"What do you mean? You're part of the family now too, Pyra," Rex said instantly, like it was completely obvious.

"I'm part of the..." Pyra murmured under her breath in disbelief. "Really?"

"Of course you are! We're partners, aren't we?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"So you're part of the family!" Rex said, beaming at her with that carefree grin that always seemed to break down all the doubt and self-loathing that lurked behind her every thought. "Well...I suppose Elysium is your  _real_ home, but...no matter what happens, you'll always have a place here in Fonsett. You're one of us now!"

Pyra stared at him, dumbfounded. From practically the moment of her creation, she had convinced herself that there was nowhere for her to truly belong. Anyone with the kind of terrible power that lurked deep within her and Mythra simply didn't  _deserve_ a place to call home.

And yet, Rex had just offered her exactly that, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. But in an instant, denial welled up within her like bile in her throat, refusing to let her even contemplate accepting the idea.

"I don't know...I'm a stranger to all these people, Rex. I'm not sure I'd fit in all that well, to be honest."

She wasn't lying. Not really. She couldn't imagine fitting in with everyone in Fonsett- or anywhere else, for that matter. She just...couldn't bring herself to tell Rex  _why._

He tilted his head in thought.

"You think so? I heard you were getting on pretty well with Auntie Corrine. And I saw you talking to some of the kids earlier, too. They really like you, you know! Trust me, once they get to know you, everyone'll love you! I mean, you'd have to be an idiot not to l-"

He paused as his face turned a light red. With a short cough, he composed himself and continued.

"M-My point is...this is your home now, too. You don't have to be alone anymore."

Pyra choked back a sudden, irrepressible urge to cry. She hadn't realized until that moment just how much she had wanted to hear someone say that to her, even once- and just how much it meant to her that  _Rex_ was the one to say it.

"Thank you, Rex..." she said in a low, soft voice. She smiled at him- small and weak, but genuine nonetheless. "That's...wonderful of you to say."

"Don't mention it!" he said, that same cheerful grin fixed on his face.

That smile of his, so trusting and caring and  _sincere,_ made her want nothing more than to accept what he said without hesitation, to allow herself to believe in the slim hope that she could live a simple, peaceful life alongside him. 

She knew she couldn't, of course. Fonsett was such a kind, peaceful place, so unlike anywhere else in Alrest- and in the end, she would only ruin that. For his sake, and the sake of the world, she couldn't stay here. She could never truly belong.

But for that one fleeting moment, she allowed herself to believe him.


	4. Day 5- Accident (Panzeke)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> panzeke bullshit panzeke bullshit
> 
> this takes place uhh some ambiguous time before the whole blade eater business bc i firmly believe sharing a core made zeke and pandy become posing brain geniouses who are just naturally in-sync all the time. here we see the dark days before they had that kind of power,,,,,,,,

"Alright, next! Bring your left hand forward and point!" A booming voice rang out throughout the forest, prompting several nearby birds to suddenly take a keen interest in an early migration.

"Put your weight on your left foot! Make sure you have a wide stance!" it commanded.

Any passersby would likely assume the voice belonged to some sort of crazed dance instructor, forced to ply their trade on the outskirts of a society that had rejected their teachings as too radical. Little did they know that their ears had actually been graced by the top-notch coaching of Zeke von Genbu, Bringer of Chaos and Ace Choreographer.

Not that his sole pupil seemed to agree with that title, ungrateful as she was for the wisdom she was being offered free of charge. With barely even a fifth of the enthusiasm necessary for the routine, she limply thrust her arm forward, her leg lurching to one side as if she were wading through a waist-high swamp.

Dreadful. Absolutely dreadful.

"No, no, no! Too slow, Pandy! And for Architect's sake, put some  _heart_ into it!"

Panting for breath, Pandoria dragged herself out of the pose, her shoulders slumping in exhaustion.

"My Prince, we've been doing this for  _hours._ I'm all outta heart to give! Can't we take a break already?" 

"What!?" Zeke exclaimed. Who knew his faithful partner was such a  _quitter?_ "But we're barely three moves into the routine! We can't quit now, we'll lose all our momentum!"

Pandoria let out a petulant groan, like a child who's just been told they can't stay up past midnight.

"Why do we have to do this, anyway? Is doing a bunch of dumb poses  _really_ gonna help us out in a fight?" she said, casually disrespecting the fundamental ethos of the Von Genbu school of swordsmanship.

"Well, how else are we going to strike terror into the hearts of our enemies!?" he said, thumping his chest for emphasis.

"I dunno. Not doing silly poses, maybe? We've got a pretty big sword, y'know, that'd probably do the trick."

Zeke heaved a long sigh, immeasurable disappointment flowing out of him like air from a slowly deflating balloon. She just didn't get it. His closest companion, the woman who he had gone through thick and thin with...and still, she just  _didn't understand._

One day, he vowed deep within his chaotic soul, she would see the light. Today was probably not that day.

"Whatever," he said with a wave of his arm. He pivoted back into position- hands on hips, shooting a confident, sidelong glance in the general direction of some trees- his coat swishing behind him as he moved. "One more time from the top, alright?"

Pandoria let out a quiet grumble before declaring " _Fiiiine,"_ in her whiniest tone. Bringing herself equal with Zeke, she mirrored his stance, the pair of them standing back-to-back. Zeke tapped his foot rhythmically, counting them in.

On three, they began.

"Well, well, well! It looks like you ne'er-do-wells are fresh out of luck!" Zeke shouted with all the gusto he could muster. Glancing towards her, he murmured, "Left foot, Pandy."

"Yeah, yeah..." she responded, leaning away from him and putting her weight on her now-outstretched leg. Zeke did the same, a smirk on his lips.

"You've had the grave misfortune to run into Alrest's finest Driver and Blade- the mighty Zeke von Genbu and Pandoria!" Another glance. "Now point towards them, like you're saying 'you're next!'" he said, thrusting his arm out.

She begrudgingly complied, pointing forwards with the sort of energy she'd normally reserve for giving an old man- or Zeke- directions.

"Throw down your weapons, turn yourselves in, and I might just see fit not to hit you with the full force of the  _Eye of Shining-_ "

A sudden yelp cut off his monologue as he stumbled backwards, crashing to the ground with a heavy, painful thud.

He lay there, groaning at the sharp pain pulsating in his head. The metal still pressing against it suggested he must have hit his head off of the Purple Lightning Dreamsmasher's hilt- a crushing betrayal from his trusty sword. His limbs were splayed out in a variety of improbable directions that only he could have managed to tumble into naturally, contorting into the sharp angles typical of a Tirkin cave painting's anatomy. A cool breeze tickled against one of his feet like the gentle caress of a feather's tip. A glance downward revealed that, somewhere in all of the excitement, his boot had seen fit to come flying off, and was now resting comfortably in the branches of a nearby tree.

His eyes shifed to the side, and he quickly identified the culprit behind all this as it hurriedly flicked away from his foot.

Pandoria's tail.

It must have gotten caught on his leg as they were moving, and well...down he had gone.

This was a highly unlikely event under any normal circumstances, but, he reasoned, the Zekenator was anything but a normal man- and exceptional men always faced exceptional circumstances.

And sometimes they faced exceptional headaches, he noted, rubbing the back of his still-pounding head as he fumbled his way into a sitting position. Pandoria stood in front of him, leaning forward with her hands clutching her sides.

"M-My prince!" she said, genuine concern fighting a losing battle with the uncontrollable giggles she was letting out. "Are you-" She paused, a laughing fit overwhelming her. "Are you alright?"

Zeke pouted, grumbling quietly to himself.  _Really now._ Here he was, licking his wounds from his latest loss against gravity, his greatest arch-nemesis, and she was laughing up a storm about it as if he were some clown taking a pie to the face (although their brief stint in a travelling circus had proven he could handle any pie-themed projectile with stoic, unflinching resolve). He was used to his Blade's habitual rudeness by now, but this was just  _mean._

He looked up, ready to subject her to a lecture about her cavalier attitude towards her partner's well-being, and found any protest he might have made fade away almost instantly.

Pandoria had by this point devolved into full-blown guffawing, doubling over with laughter. Her face had turned a bright red and her mouth was spread in a gleeful grin wider than any he'd seen from her in some time. Her eyes were tightly shut, but every now and then she would open them, looking his way as she tried to force a "sorry" out of her mouth between the constant deluge of laughter, and they would be brighter than the Eye of Shining Justice itself could ever hope to be.

She was beautiful. The most perfect being in all of Alrest.

His mouth hung open as he stared at her, captivated by her incredible elegance as she began to loudly snort.

She truly was adorable when she laughed. He loved nothing more than to make her laugh, to see her face light up with the carefree joy their nomadic lifestyle so rarely afforded her.

Sure, a lot of that laughter just so happened to come at his expense,  _especially_ when he was trying to be very cool and impressive, but he considered that a price worth paying.

Eventually, with a final, prolonged gasp for air, Pandoria's mirth died down. She wiped a stray tear from her eye and extended a hand towards Zeke, her smile softening.

"C'mon, up you get."

He grasped her hand and, with her help, staggered back onto his feet. He dusted his coat off, hoping to restore at least some of the threatening aura their routine relied upon.

"Sooo...one more time? Y'know, without tripping over?" Pandoria said, grinning wryly.

Zeke responded with an eager grin of his own.

"Alright then, one more try! We'll nail it this time, you'll see, Pandy. We're the ultimate team, you and I..."

In a flash, his hand rose up, covering his eyepatch. His fingers splayed outwards, as though the raw power contained within was too much for mortal hands.

"...and no dramatic entrance shall best us!"

"Whatever you say," Pandoria said with a final snort- although something in her tone and the smile on her face seemed a little more sincere, like she really believed him this time.

That was all he could hope for. They were partners, and together, no challenge was too great for them to overcome. Not even a choreographed dramatic entrance.


	5. Day 7- Denial (Pyrex)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think this is, for better or for worse, perhaps the most Extremely Heart-To-Heart Scene Energy fic i have ever written
> 
> also i don't think i've actually written poppi in a scene in like two years jeez. sorry pop you deserve justice

The lunchtime rush had hit the Lemour Inn hard, with what felt like every salvager in Argentum crowding around the tables of its small cafe, desperate for a meal. Nopon waiters darted from group to group, sliding what practically seemed like banquets of food in front of each of them.

Pyra sat quietly at a small table on the outskirts of the inn, sipping her tea as she stared off at another table a short distance away- the "guys' table," as Rex had called it, or the "Hunk Zone," as Zeke had then offered, to little reaction.

With time her eyes had naturally drifted towards Rex, watching him intently. Something about the way he smiled as he spoke with their friends, so bright and carefree, just...put her at ease. A fond smile of her own formed on her lips as the world around her melted away, until they were all that remained.

"Just admit it. You like him, don't ya?"

With that sudden question, the world flashed back into existence like a bright light being shone in her eyes, her tea nearly spilling all over the table from the shock. She set it back down on the safe haven of her plate with a faint clink and tilted her head.

"Excuse me?" she said, looking towards Nia, sitting across from her and prodding forlornly at the remains of her already-eaten meal. "Who do you mean?"

" _Rex,"_ Nia said with a groan. "Who else would I mean?"

Pyra paused, turning the question over in her mind.

Did she like Rex?

_Did_ she like Rex?

There were few on Alrest as intimately familiar with introspection as Pyra, few who had been granted the same long, lonely years to peer deep within the depths of their soul and discover who they were, truly, at their core.

This was, perhaps, the most personal question she had ever been forced to interrogate herself with.

"Well...of course I like Rex. We're a team, aren't we?" she said eventually. The words came from the heart, pure and honest, and spoken with a simple, understated confidence. She  _did_ like Rex. He was nice.

"Oh no, don't give me any of that 'bond between a Driver and Blade' crap," Nia said, her voice slipping into an overly earnest falsetto that Pyra firmly believed sounded  _nothing_ like her. "You like him just a  _little_ more than that, am I right?"

"Wh-What!?" Pyra said, raising her voice. "Th-that's not it at all! I just-"

"Don't even bother hidin' it. You've been starin' at him for the past ten minutes."

Poppi, once content to silently sip away at her Fizz Juice, looked up with a beam. She raised her arm high in the air for attention as if she were in a classroom, eager to answer a difficult question.

"Poppi have to agree! Poppi detect fifty percent increase in affection rate of Pyra's expression when looking at Rex! Masterpon say this sure sign of blushy-crushy."

She nodded sagely to herself, as if this was a fundamental truth of the universe.

"He...programmed you to measure that, huh? Really plans for every occasion, doesn't he," Nia said, as carefully as she could. Talking about Tora was often like trying to safely traverse a dungeon filled with devious traps. Every word had to be chosen with the utmost precision, or all manner of horrors could be unleashed.

"Y-you must have measured it wrong, Poppi. I don't look at Rex any differently from anyone else."

Poppi lowered her head, dismayed, and Pyra felt guilt shatter her heart into tiny pieces, like a brick through a window. How could she do something as horrible as mildly criticise Poppi? Yet another sin she would be forced to bear.

"Uh-huh. Sure ya don't," Nia said, sighing. She paused, her expression contemplative, before turning her head and leaning backwards in her chair. "Oi, Rex! Pyra's outta tea! Go get her another cup, would ya?"

"Huh?"

Whipping his head round towards the source of the command, Rex immediately hopped to his feet and sent his stool flying backwards, landing on its side.

"Uh, sure, just gimmie a sec. Be right there, Pyra!" he called back, already hurrying towards the counter.

Somewhere within the din of the crowd and the clattering of him trying to squeeze past everyone else at his table, Pyra heard a distant "already at her beck and call, eh, chum?!" that Rex mercifully ignored, save for a sudden blush flaring up across his face.

"Wha- Nia! " Pyra said. Her eyes darted back and forth between Nia and Rex as she frantically waved her hands in an attempt to dissuade him. "Rex, I'm fine! I have plenty of-"

Nia shushed her with a harsh hiss, then turned back around.

"She's fresh out, Rex! Better get to it!"

"On it, on it!" he yelled from across the inn with a few hurried nods. Reaching into his pouch, he produced a handful of gold coins and scattered them carelessly across the counter before taking a full pot from the bemused Nopon attending to him.

"I really don't need any more, though..." Pyra said quietly, her protests fading into the din of the guild like a stone's ripple swallowed up by the ocean.

Rex weaved his way through the inn's packed tables, one arm draped just in front of the pot to shield it from any potential assailants, like he was protecting Pyra herself. Soon enough, though, he arrived at their table, the tea safely escorted.

"Sorry for the wait," he said, gently setting the pot down in the middle of the table, beaming at her as he placed it. "Enjoy, Pyra!"

"I...I will. Thank you, Rex," she said, smiling back at him in a manner that she was certain was entirely normal, and pleasant, and platonic. The sort of smile she'd look at any of her friends with- especially a friend as close and personal as Rex.

Satisfied with a job well done, Rex made his way back to his own table. Pyra watched him as he left, that same perfectly ordinary smile fixed upon her face. Her eyes began to glisten with the sort of everyday fondness anybody would feel for their best friend.

"Poppi?" Nia prompted, smirking expectantly.

Poppi closed her eyes as a series of faint whirrs and clicks emanated from within her. After a moment, she opened her eyes again.

"Sixty percent increase! Very impressive reading!"

"Sixty!?" Pyra yelped. What was she  _doing_ ? These results just seemed to be getting worse and worse.

"Interesting, interesting," Nia said, stroking her chin. "And you double-checked 'em, right?"

"Double, triple and quadruple-checked! Poppi very certain of result!"

Nia looked at Pyra, shrugging.

"See? That's hard data, Pyra. Can't argue with that."

Pyra sagged in her chair as she contemplated simply sliding underneath the table, where no one could see her or calculate any of her feelings about anything ever again.

"It's...it's not like that..." she mumbled, knowing full well it was in vain.

"Course it's not, Pyra. Course it's not."

It really wasn't like that. Of course it wasn't. No matter what Nia and Poppi said, she knew for certain that her and Rex were just a pair of Very Good Friends and nothing more.

But then something blue shifted in her peripheral vision and her eyes flicked straight towards Rex again, his face burning a bright red from whatever it was Zeke had just said to him, and the word  _cute_ flashed through her mind as she smiled once more, and she realized, with dawning horror, that maybe it really  _was_ like that.

"Poppi have update! Now at seventy percent increase!"

She sank a little lower in her chair, utterly defeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and with that ship week is over and i return to never updating anything because completed stories are for NERDS
> 
> hope these modest meals were all to everyone's liking


End file.
